Steven Miller is a historian of United States society and politics. He pursued an interdisciplinary PhD in history at the University of Minnesota before transferring to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Focusing on the social movements and political transformations of the 1960s and 1970s, his research examines how social demonstrations during the era of the Vietnam War culminated in the Watergate Scandal and the eventual downfall of the Nixon administration.
During his doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, Steven taught a freshman-level history course on 1960s United States social and political history. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he held a residency in the UW–Madison archives where he worked extensively with primary source materials and contributed to collection development and access initiatives. Beyond academia, he engages with nonprofit and institutional archives, focusing on organizational memory, preservation strategy, and the long-term stewardship of historical records.
Outside of academia, he enjoys bouldering, hiking, traveling, and visiting historical sites which adds a valuable dimension to his life and work. Steven is a United States Army veteran.
Curriculum Vitae
Steven Miller
Based in Madison, WI, USA
ssmiller3@wisc.edu
Education
2026 - 2030 University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
College of Letters and Science
Multidisciplinary Committee PhD
2024 - 2026 University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI
Department of History
Doctoral Researcher in History
2020 - 2024 University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
Departments of History and Computer Science & Engineering
Integrated Bachelor of Arts / Doctor of Philosophy in History
Academic Activities
2023 - 2024 Chair, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) UMN Student Branch
2020 - 2022 UMN Solar Vehicle Project engineering team
Courses Taught
2023 - 2024 University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
HIST 1811 / The Sixties: History and Memories
Memberships & Affiliations
Society of American Archivists
National Council on Public History
The Association for Computers and the Humanities
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Residencies & Fellowships
2024 - 2025 University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives, Resident
Courses Taught
2023 - 2024 University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
HIST 1811 / The Sixties: History and Memories
HIST 1811 THE SIXTIES: HISTORY AND MEMORIES
This course traces the development of the 1960s and the first four years of the 1970s in United States politics and society. With a focus on civil rights, presidential politics, the Vietnam War, and a special focus on the Nixon Administration and Watergate, students in this course will learn about emerging themes of the period which culminate in the Watergate Scandal and the downfall of the Nixon Administration.
This 3 credit course was taught by Steven Miller at University of Minnesota in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
Very passionate and engaging lecturer. Was able to tell moments in history like stories rather than reading off of slides, which made this class very interesting. -S.F., 2023
Steven has been a very great lecturer for this class. He made the course more interesting than it had been before, by explaining the history with more than just reading off notes, but by talking about the events with passion making you feel as if you were at the events he was talking about. As someone who is not very familiar with history, his method of lecturing has been the most beneficial for me when it comes to understanding the material that he is teaching as he makes it both informative and very interesting to listen to. His lecturing makes me actually interested in a class that I wasn’t overall very interested in prior to the class. Overall, very great lecture. -M.R., 2023
His passion for the material shows and he makes us think critically about how different events may have impacted one another in a very creative and experimental way that gets everyone very engaged and involved. -B.L., 2023
Steven presented the material in a way that kept me engaged and I felt like I left with a good understanding of the topics we discussed. He interacted with the class and asked our opinions which I felt not only kept us engaged but helped us comprehend the material in a way that made sense as opposed to just taking in information. -K.K., 2023
I enjoyed his passion about the information and energy in prompting students to engage with it. The assignments were interesting and the grading was lenient as long as you put in effort. Overall a great experience. -S.T., 2023
DISSERTATION
Steven’s dissertation examines marginalization within Vietnam War-era campus activism between 1967 and 1973 while exploring the pedagogical applications of immersive archival technologies in historical education. Focusing on protest movements at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Kent State University, with a comparative case at Utrecht University, the project investigates how exclusion operated within student activism and how these histories have been preserved within institutional archives.
